Behind the cases of childhood pneumonia there would be a bacterium as strong as a virus
The images of files in Chinese hospitals worry the international community. There are now several outbreaks of childhood pneumonia in China andWorld Health Organization has made an official request for information on what is happening.
Pneumonia virus among children in China
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The Chinese health authorities deny that unknown viruses and bacteria were at the origin of these infections, but they are waves caused by the end of the restriction measures against Covid which led to a spread of these bacteria free to circulate again. The main person responsible was identified in the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a pathogen capable of triggering respiratory problems in children. It seems that it would cause stronger effects than pneumonia and that it would be able to neutralize some antibiotics and for this reason it is more difficult to fight. Chaoyang Hospital, the main center for respiratory diseases, reported a 40% increase in positivity to this mycoplasma among children and 6% more among adults. Masks have thus returned to Chinese public transport to avoid the spread of the bacterium.
Known bacterium
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Fabrizio Pregliascodirector of the Galeazzi Hospital in Milan, reassures on this new Chinese virus by underlining how China has only recently lifted the restrictions and that this epidemic seems to be caused by mycoplasma bacterium, which behaves like a virus but isn’t. “It particularly affects children because they still have to form their own immune system” explained Pregliasco to the Republicto. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common bacterium that mostly affects the upper respiratory tract. The Chinese authorities reiterate that there are no anomalies in these infections and that pneumonia does not have a different form than usual.
Increase in cases in France
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Meanwhile cases are also increasing in France and the emergency rooms in the country are occupied by small patients between 0 and 2 years old who complain of fatigue, fever, deep cough. In French hospitals, care activity in the pediatric area has doubled compared to the same period last year and the previous one. Also in this case the culprit is mycoplasma pneumonia. “Systematic surveillance is needed” he explains to Corriere della Sera Pregliasco, “but the increase in cases does not represent an alarm”. Also in Vietnam There is an increase in cases compared to last year, doctors have recommended that parents monitor coughs, headaches, tiredness and an acceleration of the breathing rate. Pregliasco underlines how two years ago and last year there were cases of various bronchiolitis epidemics in Italy too. The international situation must therefore be monitored, but there do not appear to be any particular alarms.
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